It was an easy nickname. He’s Jim Hook, and he’s the captain of the ride, so, Captain Hook it was. Being a captain of a large vacation and tourism bike ride was never part of the plan; he just loved biking, Hilton Head Island, and bringing people together. When he combined all three, magic happened, and a tradition was born that continued for 17 years. This year marked the final “official” organized ride as we look back over almost two decades, there’s no better time to tell the story than “National Bike Month.”
Years ago, Jim Hook floated the idea to a group of fellow “up north” bike friends to head south to ride the trails of Hilton Head Island with him. Over the years, it grew into organizing full-blown travel adventures, working with travel agencies, local vendors, and community leaders, bringing scores of new visitors to the island, many who had never been before, and most of whom have come back time and time again.
Captain Hook was never one for keeping it simple. Relaxed, yes, but when folks started following him to South Carolina, bikes in tow, Hook started making phone calls handling perks, swag, discounts, and creating memorable experiences around the ride. The more he saw interest grow from his Western Pennsylvania Rails-to-Trails riders and friends, the more he paved the way for a whole-island experience, including member benefits from vacation wholesale program Travel Advantage Network (TAN).
2022 was a milestone year and a milestone ride. Hook was turning 80 and challenged his cohorts to an 80-mile ride to commemorate the occasion. And they did.
“We had a number of condos at the Island Beach and Tennis Resort through TAN, who I’ve worked with for 17 years,” Hook said. “Incredible deals with fantastic people who really look after us every year, and that year we had people coming in from all over.
“On Wednesday morning, with the temperature at 38 degrees, Gloria Goller, Gerianne Basile, Jack Young and I left the Island Beach and Tennis Resort with the goal of biking 80+ miles. Jack was just joining to start, for encouragement, and there was a large group waiting to join us at the halfway point. Michelle Sokolosky joined and stayed for the remaining 42 miles.
“The trails had been widened and were wonderful. Still, I took a tumble when I hit a patch of wet leaves but had my own ‘paramedics’ take care of me. We kept rolling to South Beach, then up to the lighthouse, took a few pictures and headed out of Sea Pines, picked up some miles on Pope and then headed home towards the finish line, figuring whatever mileage we needed to make up, we could do around the Folly Field area. I just needed six tenths of a mile as we went back to the path along 278, and I ended up with 80.82 miles.
“Turns out I finished that whole ride with a fractured sternum from the fall I took earlier. But it was okay; it hadn’t entirely separated,” Hook added with a laissez-faire that would be Herculean for those half as young as someone celebrating his eightieth birthday. “We were successful in achieving our goal.”
That goal inspired others to push through with him, like Gloria Goller and Gerianne Eckenrode for whom the 2022 ride was their first trip to Hilton Head. It wasn’t the first time Hook’s trips had played matchmaker in new visitors’ inevitable love stories with the island.
“We started out wanting to bike our ‘years’ too, like Jim,” Goller said of herself and Eckenrode. “At her 66 and my 70, as we hit those miles, we decided we could continue. It was getting dark and cold as we pulled into the enormous golf and arcade parking lot to finish our mileage doing loops. Lights were put up and they were playing music. Gerianne got up to 80 but then wanted to do one better than her sister, so she kept going to 81, and I finished at 82. I couldn’t believe what we were able to do.”
Off the beaten path, they discovered restaurants, shops, beaches and landscapes, and the temperate winters of the Coastal Southeast. “We missed three snowstorms back home while we were on the island,” Goller laughed. “We walked the beaches, shopped Coligny, and oh, the Jazz Corner was fantastic.”
Captain Hook, meanwhile, was captaining the crew’s whole island experience, on and off the bike paths. In addition to organizing the trip altogether, everything from the important things like arranging resort lodging through TAN to small things like driving directions, Hook also made the rounds to Sea Pines’ nearest grocery stores Kroger, Harris Teeter, Whole Foods, and of course the Pig (Piggly Wiggly), who all donated reusable bags for the riders in a win-win of swag.
The crew has just finished another annual ride in 2023, but this one Hook said, was the grand finale. It’s gotten so popular that he was doing some heavy lifting as an accidental island tourism ambassador. He’ll continue himself and already has his summer trip planned, but he’s letting the groups he’s pulled here through the years ride on their own while he allows himself to slow down and “enjoy the ride.”
Last year, after his big birthday ride, Hook finished telling the story in the most endearing of comments. “They threw a birthday and congratulations party for me at Reilley’s. Frank Babel [HHI Bicycling Advisory Committee] joined us and gave me a Bike Hilton Head shirt, and the group got me a shirt that says ‘The Captain.’ My wish when I blew out the candle was for more biking adventures on Hilton Head and for more of our friends to be able to join us.”
Wishes have a way of coming true on Hilton Head Island.
